Radio Resource Control Mechanism in a Wireless Device and Wireless Network

ABSTRACT

Cells are grouped into a plurality of physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) groups comprising a primary PUCCH group and a secondary PUCCH group. A base station detects a radio link issue with a PUCCH secondary cell while one or more other cells in the secondary PUCCH group have acceptable radio link quality. The base station transmits at least one second message configured to release at least one of the one or more other cells in the secondary PUCCH group.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No.62/130,580, filed Mar. 9, 2015, and U.S. Provisional Application No.62/137,519, filed Mar. 24, 2015, which are hereby incorporated byreference in their entirety.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS

Examples of several of the various embodiments of the present inventionare described herein with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a diagram depicting example sets of OFDM subcarriers as per anaspect of an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram depicting an example transmission time and receptiontime for two carriers in a carrier group as per an aspect of anembodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a diagram depicting OFDM radio resources as per an aspect ofan embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of a base station and a wireless device as peran aspect of an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5A, FIG. 5B, FIG. 5C and FIG. 5D are example diagrams for uplinkand downlink signal transmission as per an aspect of an embodiment ofthe present invention.

FIG. 6 is an example diagram for a protocol structure with CA and DC asper an aspect of an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is an example diagram for a protocol structure with CA and DC asper an aspect of an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 shows example TAG configurations as per an aspect of anembodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is an example message flow in a random access process in asecondary TAG as per an aspect of an embodiment of the presentinvention.

FIG. 10 is an example grouping of cells into PUCCH groups as per anaspect of an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 11 illustrates example groupings of cells into one or more PUCCHgroups and one or more TAGs as per an aspect of an embodiment of thepresent invention.

FIG. 12 illustrates example groupings of cells into one or more PUCCHgroups and one or more TAGs as per an aspect of an embodiment of thepresent invention.

FIG. 13 is an example MAC PDU as per an aspect of an embodiment of thepresent invention.

FIG. 14 is an example flow diagram as per an aspect of an embodiment ofthe present invention.

FIG. 15 is an example flow diagram as per an aspect of an embodiment ofthe present invention.

FIG. 16 is an example flow diagram as per an aspect of an embodiment ofthe present invention.

FIG. 17 is an example flow diagram as per an aspect of an embodiment ofthe present invention.

FIG. 18 is an example flow diagram as per an aspect of an embodiment ofthe present invention.

FIG. 19 is an example flow diagram as per an aspect of an embodiment ofthe present invention.

FIG. 20 is an example flow diagram as per an aspect of an embodiment ofthe present invention.

FIG. 21 is an example flow diagram as per an aspect of an embodiment ofthe present invention.

FIG. 22 is an example flow diagram as per an aspect of an embodiment ofthe present invention.

FIG. 23 is an example flow diagram as per an aspect of an embodiment ofthe present invention.

FIG. 24 is an example flow diagram as per an aspect of an embodiment ofthe present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

Example embodiments of the present invention enable operation ofmultiple physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) groups. Embodiments ofthe technology disclosed herein may be employed in the technical fieldof multicarrier communication systems. More particularly, theembodiments of the technology disclosed herein may relate to operationof PUCCH groups.

The following Acronyms are used throughout the present disclosure:

ASIC application-specific integrated circuit BPSK binary phase shiftkeying CA carrier aggregation CSI channel state information CDMA codedivision multiple access CSS common search space CPLD complexprogrammable logic devices CC component carrier DL downlink DCI downlinkcontrol information DC dual connectivity EPC evolved packet core E-UTRANevolved-universal terrestrial radio access network FPGA fieldprogrammable gate arrays FDD frequency division multiplexing HDLhardware description languages HARQ hybrid automatic repeat request IEinformation element LTE long term evolution MCG master cell group MeNBmaster evolved node B MIB master information block MAC media accesscontrol MAC media access control MME mobility management entity NASnon-access stratum OFDM orthogonal frequency division multiplexing PDCPpacket data convergence protocol PDU packet data unit PHY physical PDCCHphysical downlink control channel PHICH physical HARQ indicator channelPUCCH physical uplink control channel PUSCH physical uplink sharedchannel PCell primary cell PCell primary cell PCC primary componentcarrier PSCell primary secondary cell pTAG primary timing advance groupQAM quadrature amplitude modulation QPSK quadrature phase shift keyingRBG Resource Block Groups RLC radio link control RRC radio resourcecontrol RA random access RB resource blocks SCC secondary componentcarrier SCell secondary cell Scell secondary cells SCG secondary cellgroup SeNB secondary evolved node B sTAGs secondary timing advance groupSDU service data unit S-GW serving gateway SRB signaling radio bearerSC-OFDM single carrier-OFDM SFN system frame number SIB systeminformation block TAI tracking area identifier TAT time alignment timerTDD time division duplexing TDMA time division multiple access TA timingadvance TAG timing advance group TB transport block UL uplink UE userequipment VHDL VHSIC hardware description language

Example embodiments of the invention may be implemented using variousphysical layer modulation and transmission mechanisms. Exampletransmission mechanisms may include, but are not limited to: CDMA, OFDM,TDMA, Wavelet technologies, and/or the like. Hybrid transmissionmechanisms such as TDMA/CDMA, and OFDM/CDMA may also be employed.Various modulation schemes may be applied for signal transmission in thephysical layer. Examples of modulation schemes include, but are notlimited to: phase, amplitude, code, a combination of these, and/or thelike. An example radio transmission method may implement QAM using BPSK,QPSK, 16-QAM, 64-QAM, 256-QAM, and/or the like. Physical radiotransmission may be enhanced by dynamically or semi-dynamically changingthe modulation and coding scheme depending on transmission requirementsand radio conditions.

FIG. 1 is a diagram depicting example sets of OFDM subcarriers as per anaspect of an embodiment of the present invention. As illustrated in thisexample, arrow(s) in the diagram may depict a subcarrier in amulticarrier OFDM system. The OFDM system may use technology such asOFDM technology, SC-OFDM technology, or the like. For example, arrow 101shows a subcarrier transmitting information symbols. FIG. 1 is forillustration purposes, and a typical multicarrier OFDM system mayinclude more subcarriers in a carrier. For example, the number ofsubcarriers in a carrier may be in the range of 10 to 10,000subcarriers. FIG. 1 shows two guard bands 106 and 107 in a transmissionband. As illustrated in FIG. 1, guard band 106 is between subcarriers103 and subcarriers 104. The example set of subcarriers A 102 includessubcarriers 103 and subcarriers 104. FIG. 1 also illustrates an exampleset of subcarriers B 105. As illustrated, there is no guard band betweenany two subcarriers in the example set of subcarriers B 105. Carriers ina multicarrier OFDM communication system may be contiguous carriers,non-contiguous carriers, or a combination of both contiguous andnon-contiguous carriers.

FIG. 2 is a diagram depicting an example transmission time and receptiontime for two carriers as per an aspect of an embodiment of the presentinvention. A multicarrier OFDM communication system may include one ormore carriers, for example, ranging from 1 to 10 carriers. Carrier A 204and carrier B 205 may have the same or different timing structures.Although FIG. 2 shows two synchronized carriers, carrier A 204 andcarrier B 205 may or may not be synchronized with each other. Differentradio frame structures may be supported for FDD and TDD duplexmechanisms. FIG. 2 shows an example FDD frame timing. Downlink anduplink transmissions may be organized into radio frames 201. In thisexample, radio frame duration is 10 msec. Other frame durations, forexample, in the range of 1 to 100 msec may also be supported. In thisexample, each 10 ms radio frame 201 may be divided into ten equallysized subframes 202. Other subframe durations such as including 0.5msec, 1 msec, 2 msec, and 5 msec may also be supported. Subframe(s) mayconsist of two or more slots (e.g. slots 206 and 207). For the exampleof FDD, 10 subframes may be available for downlink transmission and 10subframes may be available for uplink transmissions in each 10 msinterval. Uplink and downlink transmissions may be separated in thefrequency domain. Slot(s) may include a plurality of OFDM symbols 203.The number of OFDM symbols 203 in a slot 206 may depend on the cyclicprefix length and subcarrier spacing.

FIG. 3 is a diagram depicting OFDM radio resources as per an aspect ofan embodiment of the present invention. The resource grid structure intime 304 and frequency 305 is illustrated in FIG. 3. The quantity ofdownlink subcarriers or RBs (in this example 6 to100 RBs) may depend, atleast in part, on the downlink transmission bandwidth 306 configured inthe cell. The smallest radio resource unit may be called a resourceelement (e.g. 301). Resource elements may be grouped into resourceblocks (e.g. 302). Resource blocks may be grouped into larger radioresources called Resource Block Groups (RBG) (e.g. 303). The transmittedsignal in slot 206 may be described by one or several resource grids ofa plurality of subcarriers and a plurality of OFDM symbols. Resourceblocks may be used to describe the mapping of certain physical channelsto resource elements. Other pre-defined groupings of physical resourceelements may be implemented in the system depending on the radiotechnology. For example, 24 subcarriers may be grouped as a radio blockfor a duration of 5 msec. In an illustrative example, a resource blockmay correspond to one slot in the time domain and 180 kHz in thefrequency domain (for 15 KHz subcarrier bandwidth and 12 subcarriers).

FIG. 5A, FIG. 5B, FIG. 5C and FIG. 5D are example diagrams for uplinkand downlink signal transmission as per an aspect of an embodiment ofthe present invention. FIG. 5A shows an example uplink physical channel.The baseband signal representing the physical uplink shared channel mayperform the following processes. These functions are illustrated asexamples and it is anticipated that other mechanisms may be implementedin various embodiments. The functions may comprise scrambling,modulation of scrambled bits to generate complex-valued symbols, mappingof the complex-valued modulation symbols onto one or severaltransmission layers, transform precoding to generate complex-valuedsymbols, precoding of the complex-valued symbols, mapping of precodedcomplex-valued symbols to resource elements, generation ofcomplex-valued time-domain SC-FDMA signal for each antenna port, and/orthe like.

Example modulation and up-conversion to the carrier frequency of thecomplex-valued SC-FDMA baseband signal for each antenna port and/or thecomplex-valued PRACH baseband signal is shown in FIG. 5B. Filtering maybe employed prior to transmission.

An example structure for Downlink Transmissions is shown in FIG. 5C. Thebaseband signal representing a downlink physical channel may perform thefollowing processes. These functions are illustrated as examples and itis anticipated that other mechanisms may be implemented in variousembodiments. The functions include scrambling of coded bits in each ofthe codewords to be transmitted on a physical channel; modulation ofscrambled bits to generate complex-valued modulation symbols; mapping ofthe complex-valued modulation symbols onto one or several transmissionlayers; precoding of the complex-valued modulation symbols on each layerfor transmission on the antenna ports; mapping of complex-valuedmodulation symbols for each antenna port to resource elements;generation of complex-valued time-domain OFDM signal for each antennaport, and/or the like.

Example modulation and up-conversion to the carrier frequency of thecomplex-valued OFDM baseband signal for each antenna port is shown inFIG. 5D. Filtering may be employed prior to transmission.

FIG. 4 is an example block diagram of a base station 401 and a wirelessdevice 406, as per an aspect of an embodiment of the present invention.A communication network 400 may include at least one base station 401and at least one wireless device 406. The base station 401 may includeat least one communication interface 402, at least one processor 403,and at least one set of program code instructions 405 stored innon-transitory memory 404 and executable by the at least one processor403. The wireless device 406 may include at least one communicationinterface 407, at least one processor 408, and at least one set ofprogram code instructions 410 stored in non-transitory memory 409 andexecutable by the at least one processor 408. Communication interface402 in base station 401 may be configured to engage in communicationwith communication interface 407 in wireless device 406 via acommunication path that includes at least one wireless link 411.Wireless link 411 may be a bi-directional link. Communication interface407 in wireless device 406 may also be configured to engage in acommunication with communication interface 402 in base station 401. Basestation 401 and wireless device 406 may be configured to send andreceive data over wireless link 411 using multiple frequency carriers.According to some of the various aspects of embodiments, transceiver(s)may be employed. A transceiver is a device that includes both atransmitter and receiver. Transceivers may be employed in devices suchas wireless devices, base stations, relay nodes, and/or the like.Example embodiments for radio technology implemented in communicationinterface 402, 407 and wireless link 411 are illustrated are FIG. 1,FIG. 2, FIG. 3, FIG. 5, and associated text.

An interface may be a hardware interface, a firmware interface, asoftware interface, and/or a combination thereof. The hardware interfacemay include connectors, wires, electronic devices such as drivers,amplifiers, and/or the like. A software interface may include codestored in a memory device to implement protocol(s), protocol layers,communication drivers, device drivers, combinations thereof, and/or thelike. A firmware interface may include a combination of embeddedhardware and code stored in and/or in communication with a memory deviceto implement connections, electronic device operations, protocol(s),protocol layers, communication drivers, device drivers, hardwareoperations, combinations thereof, and/or the like.

The term configured may relate to the capacity of a device whether thedevice is in an operational or non-operational state. Configured mayalso refer to specific settings in a device that effect the operationalcharacteristics of the device whether the device is in an operational ornon-operational state. In other words, the hardware, software, firmware,registers, memory values, and/or the like may be “configured” within adevice, whether the device is in an operational or nonoperational state,to provide the device with specific characteristics. Terms such as “acontrol message to cause in a device” may mean that a control messagehas parameters that may be used to configure specific characteristics inthe device, whether the device is in an operational or non-operationalstate.

According to some of the various aspects of embodiments, an LTE networkmay include a multitude of base stations, providing a user planePDCP/RLC/MAC/PHY and control plane (RRC) protocol terminations towardsthe wireless device. The base station(s) may be interconnected withother base station(s) (e.g. employing an X2 interface). The basestations may also be connected employing, for example, an S1 interfaceto an EPC. For example, the base stations may be interconnected to theMME employing the S1-MME interface and to the S-G) employing the S1-Uinterface. The S1 interface may support a many-to-many relation betweenMMEs/Serving Gateways and base stations. A base station may include manysectors for example: 1, 2, 3, 4, or 6 sectors. A base station mayinclude many cells, for example, ranging from 1 to 50 cells or more. Acell may be categorized, for example, as a primary cell or secondarycell. At RRC connection establishment/re-establishment/handover, oneserving cell may provide the NAS (non-access stratum) mobilityinformation (e.g. TAI), and at RRC connection re-establishment/handover,one serving cell may provide the security input. This cell may bereferred to as the Primary Cell (PCell). In the downlink, the carriercorresponding to the PCell may be the Downlink Primary Component Carrier(DL PCC), while in the uplink, it may be the Uplink Primary ComponentCarrier (UL PCC). Depending on wireless device capabilities, SecondaryCells (SCells) may be configured to form together with the PCell a setof serving cells. In the downlink, the carrier corresponding to an SCellmay be a Downlink Secondary Component Carrier (DL SCC), while in theuplink, it may be an Uplink Secondary Component Carrier (UL SCC). AnSCell may or may not have an uplink carrier.

A cell, comprising a downlink carrier and optionally an uplink carrier,may be assigned a physical cell ID and a cell index. A carrier (downlinkor uplink) may belong to only one cell. The cell ID or Cell index mayalso identify the downlink carrier or uplink carrier of the cell(depending on the context it is used). In the specification, cell ID maybe equally referred to a carrier ID, and cell index may be referred tocarrier index. In implementation, the physical cell ID or cell index maybe assigned to a cell. A cell ID may be determined using asynchronization signal transmitted on a downlink carrier. A cell indexmay be determined using RRC messages. For example, when thespecification refers to a first physical cell ID for a first downlinkcarrier, the specification may mean the first physical cell ID is for acell comprising the first downlink carrier. The same concept may applyto, for example, carrier activation. When the specification indicatesthat a first carrier is activated, the specification may equally meanthat the cell comprising the first carrier is activated.

Embodiments may be configured to operate as needed. The disclosedmechanism may be performed when certain criteria are met, for example,in a wireless device, a base station, a radio environment, a network, acombination of the above, and/or the like. Example criteria may bebased, at least in part, on for example, traffic load, initial systemset up, packet sizes, traffic characteristics, a combination of theabove, and/or the like. When the one or more criteria are met, variousexample embodiments may be applied. Therefore, it may be possible toimplement example embodiments that selectively implement disclosedprotocols.

A base station may communicate with a mix of wireless devices. Wirelessdevices may support multiple technologies, and/or multiple releases ofthe same technology. Wireless devices may have some specificcapability(ies) depending on its wireless device category and/orcapability(ies). A base station may comprise multiple sectors. When thisdisclosure refers to a base station communicating with a plurality ofwireless devices, this disclosure may refer to a subset of the totalwireless devices in a coverage area. This disclosure may refer to, forexample, a plurality of wireless devices of a given LTE release with agiven capability and in a given sector of the base station. Theplurality of wireless devices in this disclosure may refer to a selectedplurality of wireless devices, and/or a subset of total wireless devicesin a coverage area which perform according to disclosed methods, and/orthe like. There may be a plurality of wireless devices in a coveragearea that may not comply with the disclosed methods, for example,because those wireless devices perform based on older releases of LTEtechnology.

FIG. 6 and FIG. 7 are example diagrams for protocol structure with CAand DC as per an aspect of an embodiment of the present invention.E-UTRAN may support Dual Connectivity (DC) operation whereby a multipleRX/TX UE in RRC_CONNECTED may be configured to utilize radio resourcesprovided by two schedulers located in two eNBs connected via a non-idealbackhaul over the X2 interface. eNBs involved in DC for a certain UE mayassume two different roles: an eNB may either act as an MeNB or as anSeNB. In DC a UE may be connected to one MeNB and one SeNB. Mechanismsimplemented in DC may be extended to cover more than two eNBs. FIG. 7illustrates one example structure for the UE side MAC entities when aMaster Cell Group (MCG) and a Secondary Cell Group (SCG) are configured,and it may not restrict implementation. Media Broadcast MulticastService (MBMS) reception is not shown in this figure for simplicity.

In DC, the radio protocol architecture that a particular bearer uses maydepend on how the bearer is setup. Three alternatives may exist, an MCGbearer, an SCG bearer and a split bearer as shown in FIG. 6. RRC may belocated in MeNB and SRBs may be configured as a MCG bearer type and mayuse the radio resources of the MeNB. DC may also be described as havingat least one bearer configured to use radio resources provided by theSeNB. DC may or may not be configured/implemented in example embodimentsof the invention.

In the case of DC, the UE may be configured with two MAC entities: oneMAC entity for MeNB, and one MAC entity for SeNB. In DC, the configuredset of serving cells for a UE may comprise of two subsets: the MasterCell Group (MCG) containing the serving cells of the MeNB, and theSecondary Cell Group (SCG) containing the serving cells of the SeNB. Fora SCG, one or more of the following may be applied: at least one cell inthe SCG has a configured UL CC and one of them, named PSCell (or PCellof SCG, or sometimes called PCell), is configured with PUCCH resources;when the SCG is configured, there may be at least one SCG bearer or oneSplit bearer; upon detection of a physical layer problem or a randomaccess problem on a PSCell, or the maximum number of RLC retransmissionshas been reached associated with the SCG, or upon detection of an accessproblem on a PSCell during a SCG addition or a SCG change: a RRCconnection re-establishment procedure may not be triggered, ULtransmissions towards cells of the SCG are stopped, a MeNB may beinformed by the UE of a SCG failure type, for split bearer, the DL datatransfer over the MeNB is maintained; the RLC AM bearer may beconfigured for the split bearer; like PCell, PSCell may not bede-activated; PSCell may be changed with a SCG change (e.g. withsecurity key change and a RACH procedure); and/or neither a directbearer type change between a Split bearer and a SCG bearer norsimultaneous configuration of a SCG and a Split bearer are supported.

With respect to the interaction between a MeNB and a SeNB, one or moreof the following principles may be applied: the MeNB may maintain theRRM measurement configuration of the UE and may, (e.g, based on receivedmeasurement reports or traffic conditions or bearer types), decide toask a SeNB to provide additional resources (serving cells) for a UE;upon receiving a request from the MeNB, a SeNB may create a containerthat may result in the configuration of additional serving cells for theUE (or decide that it has no resource available to do so); for UEcapability coordination, the MeNB may provide (part of) the ASconfiguration and the UE capabilities to the SeNB; the MeNB and the SeNBmay exchange information about a UE configuration by employing of RRCcontainers (inter-node messages) carried in X2 messages; the SeNB mayinitiate a reconfiguration of its existing serving cells (e.g., PUCCHtowards the SeNB); the SeNB may decide which cell is the PSCell withinthe SCG; the MeNB may not change the content of the RRC configurationprovided by the SeNB; in the case of a SCG addition and a SCG SCelladdition, the MeNB may provide the latest measurement results for theSCG cell(s); both a MeNB and a SeNB may know the SFN and subframe offsetof each other by OAM, (e.g., for the purpose of DRX alignment andidentification of a measurement gap). In an example, when adding a newSCG SCell, dedicated RRC signalling may be used for sending requiredsystem information of the cell as for CA, except for the SFN acquiredfrom a MIB of the PSCell of a SCG.

According to some of the various aspects of embodiments, serving cellshaving an uplink to which the same time alignment (TA) applies may begrouped in a TA group (TAG). Serving cells in one TAG may use the sametiming reference. For a given TAG, user equipment (UE) may use onedownlink carrier as a timing reference at a given time. The UE may use adownlink carrier in a TAG as a timing reference for that TAG. For agiven TAG, a UE may synchronize uplink subframe and frame transmissiontiming of uplink carriers belonging to the same TAG. According to someof the various aspects of embodiments, serving cells having an uplink towhich the same TA applies may correspond to serving cells hosted by thesame receiver. A TA group may comprise at least one serving cell with aconfigured uplink. A UE supporting multiple TAs may support two or moreTA groups. One TA group may contain the PCell and may be called aprimary TAG (pTAG). In a multiple TAG configuration, at least one TAgroup may not contain the PCell and may be called a secondary TAG(sTAG). Carriers within the same TA group may use the same TA value andthe same timing reference. When DC is configured, cells belonging to acell group (MCG or SCG) may be grouped into multiple TAGs including apTAG and one or more sTAGs.

FIG. 8 shows example TAG configurations as per an aspect of anembodiment of the present invention. In Example 1, pTAG comprises PCell,and an sTAG comprises SCell1. In Example 2, a pTAG comprises a PCell andSCell1, and an sTAG comprises SCell2 and SCell3. In Example 3, pTAGcomprises PCell and SCell1, and an sTAG1 includes SCell2 and SCell3, andsTAG2 comprises SCell4. Up to four TAGs may be supported in a cell group(MCG or SCG) and other example TAG configurations may also be provided.In various examples in this disclosure, example mechanisms are describedfor a pTAG and an sTAG. The operation with one example sTAG isdescribed, and the same operation may be applicable to other sTAGs. Theexample mechanisms may be applied to configurations with multiple sTAGs.

According to some of the various aspects of embodiments, TA maintenance,pathloss reference handling and a timing reference for a pTAG may followLTE release 10 principles in the MCG and/or SCG. The UE may need tomeasure downlink pathloss to calculate uplink transmit power. A pathlossreference may be used for uplink power control and/or transmission ofrandom access preamble(s). UE may measure downlink pathloss usingsignals received on a pathloss reference cell. For SCell(s) in a pTAG,the choice of a pathloss reference for cells may be selected from and/orbe limited to the following two options: a) the downlink SCell linked toan uplink SCell using system information block 2 (SIB2), and b) thedownlink pCell. The pathloss reference for SCells in a pTAG may beconfigurable using RRC message(s) as a part of an SCell initialconfiguration and/or reconfiguration. According to some of the variousaspects of embodiments, a PhysicalConfigDedicatedSCell informationelement (IE) of an SCell configuration may include a pathloss referenceSCell (downlink carrier) for an SCell in a pTAG. The downlink SCelllinked to an uplink SCell using system information block 2 (SIB2) may bereferred to as the SIB2 linked downlink of the SCell. Different TAGs mayoperate in different bands. For an uplink carrier in an sTAG, thepathloss reference may be only configurable to the downlink SCell linkedto an uplink SCell using the system information block 2 (SIB2) of theSCell.

To obtain initial uplink (UL) time alignment for an sTAG, an eNB mayinitiate an RA procedure. In an sTAG, a UE may use one of any activatedSCells from this sTAG as a timing reference cell. In an exampleembodiment, the timing reference for SCells in an sTAG may be the SIB2linked downlink of the SCell on which the preamble for the latest RAprocedure was sent. There may be one timing reference and one timealignment timer (TAT) per TA group. A TAT for TAGs may be configuredwith different values. In a MAC entity, when a TAT associated with apTAG expires: all TATs may be considered as expired, the UE may flushHARQ buffers of serving cells, the UE may clear any configured downlinkassignment/uplink grants, and the RRC in the UE may release PUCCH/SRSfor all configured serving cells. When the pTAG TAT is not running, ansTAG TAT may not be running When the TAT associated with an sTAGexpires: a) SRS transmissions may be stopped on the correspondingSCells, b) SRS RRC configuration may be released, c) CSI reportingconfiguration for corresponding SCells may be maintained, and/or d) theMAC in the UE may flush the uplink HARQ buffers of the correspondingSCells.

An eNB may initiate an RA procedure via a PDCCH order for an activatedSCell. This PDCCH order may be sent on a scheduling cell of this SCell.When cross carrier scheduling is configured for a cell, the schedulingcell may be different than the cell that is employed for preambletransmission, and the PDCCH order may include an SCell index. At least anon-contention based RA procedure may be supported for SCell(s) assignedto sTAG(s).

FIG. 9 is an example message flow in a random access process in asecondary TAG as per an aspect of an embodiment of the presentinvention. An eNB transmits an activation command 600 to activate anSCell. A preamble 602 (Msg1) may be sent by a UE in response to a PDCCHorder 601 on an SCell belonging to an sTAG. In an example embodiment,preamble transmission for SCells may be controlled by the network usingPDCCH format 1A. Msg2 message 603 (RAR: random access response) inresponse to the preamble transmission on the SCell may be addressed toRA-RNTI in a PCell common search space (CSS). Uplink packets 604 may betransmitted on the SCell in which the preamble was transmitted.

According to some of the various aspects of embodiments, initial timingalignment may be achieved through a random access procedure. This mayinvolve a UE transmitting a random access preamble and an eNB respondingwith an initial TA command NTA (amount of timing advance) within arandom access response window. The start of the random access preamblemay be aligned with the start of a corresponding uplink subframe at theUE assuming NTA=0. The eNB may estimate the uplink timing from therandom access preamble transmitted by the UE. The TA command may bederived by the eNB based on the estimation of the difference between thedesired UL timing and the actual UL timing. The UE may determine theinitial uplink transmission timing relative to the correspondingdownlink of the sTAG on which the preamble is transmitted.

The mapping of a serving cell to a TAG may be configured by a servingeNB with RRC signaling. The mechanism for TAG configuration andreconfiguration may be based on RRC signaling. According to some of thevarious aspects of embodiments, when an eNB performs an SCell additionconfiguration, the related TAG configuration may be configured for theSCell. In an example embodiment, an eNB may modify the TAG configurationof an SCell by removing (releasing) the SCell and adding(configuring) anew SCell (with the same physical cell ID and frequency) with an updatedTAG ID. The new SCell with the updated TAG ID may initially be inactivesubsequent to being assigned the updated TAG ID. The eNB may activatethe updated new SCell and start scheduling packets on the activatedSCell. In an example implementation, it may not be possible to changethe TAG associated with an SCell, but rather, the SCell may need to beremoved and a new SCell may need to be added with another TAG. Forexample, if there is a need to move an SCell from an sTAG to a pTAG, atleast one RRC message, for example, at least one RRC reconfigurationmessage, may be send to the UE to reconfigure TAG configurations byreleasing the SCell and then configuring the SCell as a part of the pTAG(when an SCell is added/configured without a TAG index, the SCell may beexplicitly assigned to the pTAG). The PCell may not change its TA groupand may always be a member of the pTAG.

The purpose of an RRC connection reconfiguration procedure may be tomodify an RRC connection, (e.g. to establish, modify and/or release RBs,to perform handover, to setup, modify, and/or release measurements, toadd, modify, and/or release SCells). If the received RRC ConnectionReconfiguration message includes the sCellToReleaseList, the UE mayperform an SCell release. If the received RRC Connection Reconfigurationmessage includes the sCellToAddModList, the UE may perform SCelladditions or modification.

In LTE Release-10 and Release-11 CA, a PUCCH is only transmitted on thePCell

(PSCell) to an eNB. In LTE-Release 12 and earlier, a UE may transmitPUCCH information on one cell (PCell or PSCell) to a given eNB.

As the number of CA capable UEs and also the number of aggregatedcarriers increase, the number of PUCCHs and also the PUCCH payload sizemay increase. Accommodating the PUCCH transmissions on the PCell maylead to a high PUCCH load on the PCell. A PUCCH on an SCell may beintroduced to offload the PUCCH resource from the PCell. More than onePUCCH may be configured for example, a PUCCH on a PCell and anotherPUCCH on an SCell. FIG. 10 is an example grouping of cells into PUCCHgroups as per an aspect of an embodiment of the present invention. Inthe example embodiments, one, two or more cells may be configured withPUCCH resources for transmitting CSI/ACK/NACK to a base station. Cellsmay be grouped into multiple PUCCH groups, and one or more cell within agroup may be configured with a PUCCH. In an example configuration, oneSCell may belong to one PUCCH group. SCells with a configured PUCCHtransmitted to a base station may be called a PUCCH SCell, and a cellgroup with a common PUCCH resource transmitted to the same base stationmay be called a PUCCH group.

In Release-12, a PUCCH can be configured on a PCell and/or a PSCell, butcannot be configured on other SCells. In an example embodiment, a UE maytransmit a message indicating that the UE supports PUCCH configurationon a PCell and SCell. Such an indication may be separate from anindication of of dual connectivity support by the UE. In an exampleembodiment, a UE may support both DC and PUCCH groups. In an exampleembodiment, either DC or PUCCH groups may be configured, but not both.In another example embodiment, more complicated configurationscomprising both DC and PUCCH groups may be supported.

When a UE is capable of configuring PUCCH groups, and if a UE indicatesthat it supports simultaneous PUCCH/PUSCH transmission capability, itmay imply that the UE supports simultaneous PUCCH/PUSCH transmission onboth PCell and SCell. When multiple PUCCH groups are configured, a PUCCHmay be configured or not configured with simultaneous PUCCH/PUSCHtransmission.

In an example embodiment, PUCCH transmission to a base station on twoserving cells may be realized as shown in FIG. 10. A first group ofcells may employ a PUCCH on the PCell and may be called PUCCH group 1 ora primary PUCCH group. A second group of cells may employ a PUCCH on anSCell and may be called PUCCH group 2 or a secondary PUCCH group. One,two or more PUCCH groups may be configured. In an example, cells may begrouped into two PUCCH groups, and each PUCCH group may include a cellwith PUCCH resources. A PCell may provide PUCCH resources for theprimary PUCCH group and an SCell in the secondary PUCCH group mayprovide PUCCH resources for the cells in the secondary PUCCH group. Inan example embodiment, no cross-carrier scheduling between cells indifferent PUCCH groups may be configured. When cross-carrier schedulingbetween cells in different PUCCH groups is not configured, ACK/NACK onPHICH channel may be limited within a PUCCH group. Both downlink anduplink scheduling activity may be separate between cells belonging todifferent PUCCH groups.

A PUCCH on an SCell may carry HARQ-ACK and CSI information. A PCell maybe configured with PUCCH resources. In an example embodiment, RRCparameters for an SCell PUCCH Power Control for a PUCCH on an SCell maybe different from those of a PCell PUCCH. A Transmit Power Controlcommand for a PUCCH on an SCell may be transmitted in DCI(s) on theSCell carrying the PUCCH.

UE procedures on a PUCCH transmission may be different and/orindependent between PUCCH groups. For example, determination of DLHARQ-ACK timing, PUCCH resource determination for HARQ-ACK and/or CSI,Higher-layer configuration of simultaneous HARQ-ACK+CSI on a PUCCH,Higher-layer configuration of simultaneous HARQ-ACK+SRS in one subframemay be configured differently for a PUCCH PCell and a PUCCH SCell.

A PUCCH group may be a group of serving cells configured by a RRC anduse the same serving cell in the group for transmission of a PUCCH. APrimary PUCCH group may be a PUCCH group containing a PCell. A secondaryPUCCH group may be a PUCCH group not containing the PCell. In an exampleembodiment, an SCell may belong to one PUCCH group. When one SCellbelongs to a PUCCH group, ACK/NACK or CSI for that SCell may betransmitted over the PUCCH in that PUCCH group (over PUCCH SCell orPUCCH PCell). A PUCCH on an SCell may reduce the PUCCH load on thePCell. A PUCCH SCell may be employed for UCI transmission of SCells inthe corresponding PUCCH group.

In an example embodiment, a flexible PUCCH configuration in whichcontrol signalling is sent on one, two or more PUCCHs may be possible.Beside the PCell, it may be possible to configure a selected number ofSCells for PUCCH transmission (herein called PUCCH SCells). Controlsignalling information conveyed in a certain PUCCH SCell may be relatedto a set of SCells in a corresponding PUCCH group that are configured bythe network via RRC signalling.

PUCCH control signalling carried by a PUCCH channel may be distributedbetween a PCell and SCells for off-loading or robustness purposes. Byenabling a PUCCH in an SCell, it may be possible to distribute theoverall CSI reports for a given UE between a PCell and a selected numberof SCells (e.g. PUCCH SCells), thereby limiting PUCCH CSI resourceconsumption by a given UE on a certain cell. It may be possible to mapCSI reports for a certain SCell to a selected PUCCH SCell. An SCell maybe assigned a certain periodicity and time-offset for transmission ofcontrol information. Periodic CSI for a serving cell may be mapped on aPUCCH (on the PCell or on a PUCCH-SCell) via RRC signalling. Thepossibility of distributing CSI reports, HARQ feedbacks, and/orScheduling Requests across PUCCH SCells may provide flexibility andcapacity improvements. HARQ feedback for a serving cell may be mapped ona PUCCH (on the PCell or on a PUCCH SCell) via RRC signalling.

In example embodiments, PUCCH transmission may be configured on a PCell,as well as one SCell in CA. An SCell PUCCH may be realized using theconcept of PUCCH groups, where aggregated cells are grouped into two ormore PUCCH groups. One cell from a PUCCH group may be configured tocarry a PUCCH. More than 5 carriers may be configured. In the exampleembodiments, up to n carriers may be aggregated. For example, n may be16, 32, or 64. Some CCs may have non-backward compatible configurationssupporting only advanced UEs (e.g. support licensed assisted accessSCells). In an example embodiment, one SCell PUCCH (e.g. two PUCCHgroups) may be supported. In another example embodiment, a PUCCH groupconcept with multiple (more than one) SCells carrying PUCCH may beemployed(e.g., there can be more than two PUCCH groups).

In an example embodiment, a given PUCCH group may not comprise servingcells of both MCG and SCG. One of the PUCCHs may be configured on thePCell. In an example embodiment, PUCCH mapping of serving cells may beconfigured by RRC messages. In an example embodiment, a maximum value ofan SCellIndex and a ServCellIndex may be 31 (ranging from 0 to 31). Inan example, a maximum value of stag-Id may be 3. The CIF for a scheduledcell may be configured explicitly. A PUCCH SCell may be configured bygiving a PUCCH configuration for an SCell. A HARQ feedback and CSIreport of a PUCCH SCell may be sent on the PUCCH of that PUCCH SCell.The HARQ feedback and CSI report of a SCell may sent on a PUCCH of aPCell if no PUCCH SCell is signalled for that SCell. The HARQ feedbackand CSI report of an SCell may be sent on the PUCCH of one PUCCH SCell;hence they may not be sent on the PUCCH of different PUCCH SCell. The UEmay report a Type 2 PH for serving cells configured with a PUCCH. In anexample embodiment, a MAC activation/deactivation may be supported for aPUCCH SCell. An eNB may manage the activation/deactivation status forSCells. A newly added PUCCH SCell may be initially deactivated.

In an example embodiment, independent configuration of PUCCH groups andTAGs may be supported. FIG. 11 and FIG. 12 show example configurationsof TAGs and PUCCH groups. For example, one TAG may contain multipleserving cells with a PUCCH. For example, each TAG may only comprisecells of one PUCCH group. For example, a TAG may comprise the servingcells (without a PUCCH) which belong to different PUCCH groups.

There may not be a one-to-one mapping between TAGs and PUCCH groups. Forexample, in a configuration, a PUCCH SCell may belong to primary TAG. Inan example implementation, the serving cells of one PUCCH group may bein different TAGs and serving cells of one TAG may be in different PUCCHgroups. Configuration of PUCCH groups and TAGs may be left to eNBimplementation. In another example implementation, restriction(s) on theconfiguration of a PUCCH cell may be specified. For example, in anexample embodiment, cells in a given PUCCH group may belong to the sameTAG. In an example, an sTAG may only comprise cells of one PUCCH group.In an example, one-to-one mapping between TAGs and PUCCH groups may beimplemented. In implementation, cell configurations may be limited tosome of the examples. In other implementations, some or all the belowconfigurations may be allowed.

In an example embodiment, for an SCell in a pTAG, the timing referencemay be a PCell. For an SCell in an sTAG, the timing reference may be anyactivated SCell in the sTAG. For an SCell (configured with PUCCH or not)in a pTAG, a pathloss reference may be configured to be a PCell or anSIB-2 linked SCell. For an SCell in a sTAG, the pathloss reference maybe the SIB-2 linked SCell. When a TAT associated with a pTAG is expired,the TAT associated with sTAGs may be considered as expired. When a TATof an sTAG containing PUCCH SCell expires, the MAC may indicate to anRRC to release PUCCH resource for the PUCCH group. When the TAT of ansTAG containing a PUCCH SCell is not running, the uplink transmission(PUSCH) for SCells in the secondary PUCCH group not belonging to thesTAG including the PUCCH SCell may not be impacted. The TAT expiry of ansTAG containing a PUCCH SCell may not trigger TAT expiry of other TAGsto which other SCells in the same PUCCH group belong. When the TATassociated with sTAG not containing a PUCCH SCell is not running, thewireless device may stop the uplink transmission for the SCell in thesTAG and may not impact other TAGs.

In an example embodiment, a MAC entity may have a configurable timertimeAlignmentTimer per TAG. The timeAlignmentTimer may be used tocontrol how long the MAC entity considers the Serving Cells belonging tothe associated TAG to be uplink time aligned. The MAC entity may, when aTiming Advance Command MAC control element is received, apply the TimingAdvance Command for the indicated TAG; start or restart thetimeAlignmentTimer associated with the indicated TAG. The MAC entitymay, when a Timing Advance Command is received in a Random AccessResponse message for a serving cell belonging to a TAG and/or if theRandom Access Preamble was not selected by the MAC entity, apply theTiming Advance Command for this TAG and start or restart thetimeAlignmentTimer associated with this TAG. Otherwise, if thetimeAlignmentTimer associated with this TAG is not running, the TimingAdvance Command for this TAG may be applied and the timeAlignmentTimerassociated with this TAG started. When the contention resolution isconsidered not successful, a timeAlignmentTimer associated with this TAGmay be stopped. Otherwise, the MAC entity may ignore the received TimingAdvance Command.

Example embodiments of the invention may enable operation of multiplePUCCH groups. Other example embodiments may comprise a non-transitorytangible computer readable media comprising instructions executable byone or more processors to cause operation of PUCCH groups. Yet otherexample embodiments may comprise an article of manufacture thatcomprises a non-transitory tangible computer readable machine-accessiblemedium having instructions encoded thereon for enabling programmablehardware to cause a device (e.g. wireless communicator, UE, basestation, etc.) to enable operation of PUCCH groups. The device mayinclude processors, memory, interfaces, and/or the like. Other exampleembodiments may comprise communication networks comprising devices suchas base stations, wireless devices (or user equipment: UE), servers,switches, antennas, and/or the like. In an example embodiment one ormore TAGs may be configured along with PUCCH group configuration.

FIG. 13 is an example MAC PDU as per an aspect of an embodiment of thepresent invention. In an example embodiment, a MAC PDU may comprise of aMAC header, zero or more MAC Service Data Units (MAC SDU), zero or moreMAC control elements, and optionally padding. The MAC header and the MACSDUs may be of variable sizes. A MAC PDU header may comprise one or moreMAC PDU subheaders. A subheader may correspond to either a MAC SDU, aMAC control element or padding. A MAC PDU subheader may comprise headerfields R, F2, E, LCID, F, and/or L. The last subheader in the MAC PDUand subheaders for fixed sized MAC control elements may comprise thefour header fields R, F2, E, and/or LCID. A MAC PDU subheadercorresponding to padding may comprise the four header fields R, F2, E,and/or LCID.

In an example embodiment, LCID or Logical Channel ID field may identifythe logical channel instance of the corresponding MAC SDU or the type ofthe corresponding MAC control element or padding. There may be one LCIDfield for a MAC SDU, MAC control element or padding included in the MACPDU. In addition to that, one or two additional LCID fields may beincluded in the MAC PDU when single-byte or two-byte padding is requiredbut cannot be achieved by padding at the end of the MAC PDU. The LCIDfield size may be, e.g. 5 bits. L or the Length field may indicate thelength of the corresponding MAC SDU or variable-sized MAC controlelement in bytes. There may be one L field per MAC PDU subheader exceptfor the last subheader and subheaders corresponding to fixed-sized MACcontrol elements. The size of the L field may be indicated by the Ffield and F2 field. The F or the Format field may indicate the size ofthe Length field. There may be one F field per MAC PDU subheader exceptfor the last subheader and subheaders corresponding to fixed-sized MACcontrol elements and expect for when F2 is set to 1. The size of the Ffield may be 1 bit. In an example, if the F field is included, and/or ifthe size of the MAC SDU or variable-sized MAC control element is lessthan 128 bytes, the value of the F field is set to 0, otherwise it isset to 1. The F2 or the Format2 field may indicate the size of theLength field. There may be one F2 field per MAC PDU subheader. The sizeof the F2 field may be 1 bit. In an example, if the size of the MAC SDUor variable-sized MAC control element is larger than 32767 bytes and ifthe corresponding subheader is not the last subheader, the value of theF2 field may be set to 1, otherwise it is set to 0. The E or theExtension field may be a flag indicating if more fields are present inthe MAC header or not. The E field may be set to “1” to indicate anotherset of at least R/F2/E/LCID fields. The E field may be set to “0” toindicate that either a MAC SDU, a MAC control element or padding startsat the next byte. R or reserved bit, set to “0”.

MAC PDU subheaders may have the same order as the corresponding MACSDUs, MAC control elements and padding. MAC control elements may beplaced before any MAC SDU. Padding may occur at the end of the MAC PDU,except when single-byte or two-byte padding is required. Padding mayhave any value and the MAC entity may ignore it. When padding isperformed at the end of the MAC PDU, zero or more padding bytes may beallowed. When single-byte or two-byte padding is required, one or twoMAC PDU subheaders corresponding to padding may be placed at thebeginning of the MAC PDU before any other MAC PDU subheader. In anexample, a maximum of one MAC PDU may be transmitted per TB per MACentity, a maximum of one MCH MAC PDU can be transmitted per TTI.

At least one RRC message may provide configuration parameters for atleast one cell and configuration parameters for PUCCH groups. Theinformation elements in one or more RRC messages may provide mappingbetween configured cells and PUCCH SCells. Cells may be grouped into aplurality of cell groups and a cell may be assigned to one of theconfigured PUCCH groups. There may be a one-to-one relationship betweenPUCCH groups and cells with configured PUCCH resources. At least one RRCmessage may provide mapping between an SCell and a PUCCH group, andPUCCH configuration on PUCCH SCell.

System information (common parameters) for an SCell may be carried in aRadioResourceConfigCommonSCell in a dedicated RRC message. Some of thePUCCH related information may be included in common information of anSCell (e.g. in the RadioResourceConfigCommonSCell). Dedicatedconfiguration parameters of SCell and PUCCH resources may be configuredby dedicated RRC signaling using, for example,RadioResourceConfigDedicatedSCell.

The IE PUCCH-ConfigCommon and IE PUCCH-ConfigDedicated may be used tospecify the common and the UE specific PUCCH configuration respectively.

In an example, PUCCH-ConfigCommon may include: deltaPUCCH-Shift:ENUMERATED {ds1, ds2, ds3}; nRB-CQI: INTEGER (0..98); nCS-AN: INTEGER(0..7); and/or n1PUCCH-AN: INTEGER (0..2047). The parameterdeltaPUCCH-Shift (Δ_(shift) ^(PUCCH)), nRB-CQI (N_(RB) ⁽²⁾) nCS-An(N_(cs) ⁽¹⁾), and n1PUCCH-AN (N_(PUCCH) ⁽¹⁾) may be physical layerparameters of PUCCH.

PUCCH-ConfigDedicated may be employed. PUCCH-ConfigDedicated mayinclude: ackNackRepetition CHOICE{release: NULL, setup: SEQUENCE{repetitionFactor: ENUMERATED {n2, n4, n6, spare1},n1PUCCH-AN-Rep:INTEGER (0..2047)}, tdd-AckNackFeedbackMode: ENUMERATED {bundling,multiplexing} OPTIONAL}. ackNackRepetitionj parameter indicates whetherACK/NACK repetition is configured. n2 corresponds to repetition factor2, n4 to 4 for repetitionFactor parameter (N_(ANRep)). n1PUCCH-AN-Repparameter may be PUCCH, n_(PUCCH,ANRep) ^((1,p)) for antenna port P0 andfor antenna port P1. dd-AckNackFeedbackMode parameter may indicate oneof the TDD ACK/NACK feedback modes used. The value bundling maycorrespond to use of ACK/NACK bundling whereas, the value multiplexingmay correspond to ACK/NACK multiplexing. The same value may apply toboth ACK/NACK feedback modes on PUCCH as well as on PUSCH.

The parameter PUCCH-ConfigDedicated may include simultaneous PUCCH-PUSCHparameter indicating whether simultaneous PUCCH and PUSCH transmissionsis configured. An E-UTRAN may configure this field for the PCell whenthe nonContiguousUL-RA-WithinCC-Info is set to supported in the band onwhich PCell is configured. The E-UTRAN may configure this field for thePSCell when the nonContiguousUL-RA-WithinCC-Info is set to supported inthe band on which PSCell is configured. The E-UTRAN may configure thisfield for the PUCCH SCell when the nonContiguousUL-RA-WithinCC-Info isset to supported in the band on which PUCCH SCell is configured.

A UE may transmit radio capabilities to an eNB to indicate whether UEsupport the configuration of PUCCH groups. The simultaneous PUCCH-PUSCHin the UE capability message may be applied to both a PCell and anSCell. Simultaneous PUCCH+PUSCH may be configured separately (usingseparate IEs) for a PCell and a PUCCH SCell. For example, a PCell and aPUCCH SCell may have different or the same configurations related tosimultaneous PUCCH+PUSCH.

The eNB may select the PUCCH SCell among current SCells or candidateSCells considering cell loading, carrier quality (e.g. using measurementreports), carrier configuration, and/or other parameters. From afunctionality perspective, a PUCCH Cell group management procedure mayinclude a PUCCH Cell group addition, a PUCCH group release, a PUCCHgroup change and/or a PUCCH group reconfiguration. The PUCCH groupaddition procedure may be used to add a secondary PUCCH group (e.g., toadd PUCCH SCell and one or more SCells in the secondary PUCCH group). Inan example embodiment, cells may be released and added employing one ormore RRC messages. In another example embodiment, cells may be releasedemploying a first RRC message and then added employing a second RRCmessages.

SCells including PUCCH SCell may be in a deactivated state when they areconfigured. A PUCCH SCell may be activated after an RRC configurationprocedure by an activation MAC CE. An eNB may transmit a MAC CEactivation command to a UE. The UE may activate an SCell in response toreceiving the MAC CE activation command

In example embodiments, a timer is running once it is started, until itis stopped or until it expires; otherwise it may not be running A timercan be started if it is not running or restarted if it is running Forexample, a timer may be started or restarted from its initial value.

At least one RRC message may provide configuration parameters for atleast one cell and configuration parameters for PUCCH groups. Theinformation elements in one or more RRC messages may provide mappingbetween configured cells and the PUCCH groups. Cells may be grouped intoa plurality of PUCCH groups and a cell may be assigned to one of theconfigured PUCCH groups. There may be a one-to-one relationship betweenPUCCH groups and cells with configured PUCCH resources. At least one RRCmessage may provide mapping between an SCell and a PUCCH group and PUCCHconfiguration on PUCCH SCell.

System information (common parameters) for an SCell may be carried inRadioResourceConfigCommonSCell in a dedicated RRC message. Some of thePUCCH related information may be included in common information of anSCell e.g. in RadioResourceConfigCommonSCell. Dedicated configurationparameters of SCell and PUCCH resources may be configured by dedicatedRRC signaling using for example RadioResourceConfigDedicatedSCell.

The eNB may select the PUCCH SCell among current SCells or candidateSCells considering cell loading, carrier quality (e.g. using measurementreports), carrier configuration, and/or other parameters. In an exampleimplementation, a PUCCH group re-association may be achieved by usingSCell addition/release procedure to remove an SCell and then add a newSCell associated with another PUCCH group. In an example embodiment, inorder to change PUCCH group associated with an SCell, the SCell may befirst deactivated and then reconfigured. SCell deactivation is performedby an eNB transmitting a deactivation MAC CE to the UE deactivating theSCell. Reconfiguration of SCell parameters and PUCCH groups may beperformed by eNB transmitting one or more RRC messages to the UE.

If no PUCCH group assignment and/or PUCCH configuration on SCell(s) isprovided in RRC configuration messages, the SCell(s) may be associatedto PCell for PUCCH transmission (be assigned to the primary PUCCHgroup). If there is no explicit PUCCH configuration and/or PUCCH groupconfiguration for a given SCell, the SCell may belong to the primaryPUCCH group. This may ensuring a Release-13 or beyond CA UE would behavelike a Release-12 UE in a Release-12 network regarding PUCCHtransmission. In an example embodiment, if a first parameter is presentin the RRC configuration parameters of a secondary cell, the secondarycell is mapped to the secondary PUCCH group, otherwise the secondarycell is mapped to the primary PUCCH group.

From functionality perspective, PUCCH Cell group management proceduremay include PUCCH Cell group addition, PUCCH group release, PUCCH groupchange and PUCCH group reconfiguration. The PUCCH group additionprocedure may be used to add a secondary PUCCH group, e.g., to add aPUCCH SCell and one or more SCells in the secondary PUCCH group.

When PUCCH SCell is released for reconfiguration or other purposes, theeNB may also release cells in that PUCCH group. When PUCCH SCell isreleased, other cells in the corresponding PUCCH group may not haveaccess to PUCCH resources.

A PUCCH SCell may be in a deactivated state after it is configured. ThePUCCH SCell may be activated by an activation MAC CE. Other SCell(s) inthis secondary PUCCH group may be in deactivated state after they areconfigured.

The PUCCH group release procedure may be used to release a secondaryPUCCH group. An eNB may release SCells in a PUCCH group when PUCCH groupis released. In an example embodiment, SCells in a PUCCH group may beautomatically released when the PUCCH group is released. SCells may bereconfigured as a part of the primary PUCCH group. The primary PUCCHgroup may not be released, and PCell may always include PUCCH resourcesand at least transmit PCell CSI and HARQ feedback on PUCCH PCell.

In an example embodiment, one or more IEs in one or more RRC messagesmay be for PUCCH configurations and/or UCI (uplink control information)transmissions of an SCell. An SCell may be assigned a cell index. An RRCmessage may comprise one or more IEs to configure an SCell and indicatewhether UCIs corresponding to the SCell is transmitted on the PUCCHSCell or the PCell. An eNB may transmit one or more RRC messages toconfigure the SCell and indicate whether the CSI and/or UCIscorresponding to the SCell is transmitted on the PUCCH SCell or thePCell. The one or more RRC messages may comprise one or more IEsindicating whether the CSI and/or UCIs corresponding to the SCell istransmitted on the PUCCH SCell or the PCell. For example, the presenceof an IE in an RRC message (e.g. with value of true) may indicate thatthe SCell is in a secondary PUCCH group. When the IE is false or is notpresent in SCell configuration paramters, the RRC message may indicatethat the SCell is in the primary PUCCH group.

In an example embodiment, one or more RRC messages may comprise new IEsthat comprise PUCCH configuration parameters for a PUCCH SCell. Forexample, the RRC message may comprise PUCCH-ConfigDedicatedSCell(dedicated parameters) and PUCCH-ConfigCommonSCell (common parameters)indicating dedicated and common parameters for the PUCCH SCell.

In an example embodiment, a wireless device may receive at least onemessage comprising one or more parameters employed for adding,modifying, or releasing one or more secondary cells in a plurality ofcells. The wireless device may add, modify or release the one or moresecondary cells employing the at least one message. The plurality ofcells are grouped into one or more physical uplink control channel(PUCCH) groups.

The at least one message is configurable to cause assignment of asecondary cell to one of the one or more PUCCH groups when the secondarycell is added. The at least one message is configurable to add thesecondary cell as a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) secondarycell with a PUCCH. The at least one message is configurable to causerelease of the secondary cell. The at least one message isunconfigurable to cause a modification of the secondary cell (when thesecondary cell is already configured) to a PUCCH secondary cell beforefirst releasing the secondary cell. An SCell may be first released ifPUCCH is to be configured for the SCell (that is already configured).The SCell may be added with new PUCCH configuration. Configuring PUCCHresources for an already configured SCell that does not include PUCCHmay require complicated decoding process in an eNB. The disclosedmechanism may enable orderly configuration of an PUCCH SCell andtransmission of UCI on the PUCCH SCell.

The eNB may activate and uplink synchronize (if it is not uplinksynchronized) the PUCCH SCell. After PUCCH SCell is activated and uplinksynchronized then PUCCH information for the cells in PUCCH group may betransmitted in the uplink.

The plurality of cells configured in a UE may be grouped into aplurality of PUCCH groups. Newly added SCells may be configured as apart of a primary PUCCH group or a secondary PUCCH group. RRCconfiguration of an SCell may be modified to change the PUCCH group thatthe SCell belongs to. For example, RRC configuration of an SCell in theprimary PUCCH group may be modified and the SCell may be reconfigured asa part of the secondary PUCCH group. In another example, RRCconfiguration of an SCell in the secondary PUCCH group may be modifiedand the SCell may be reconfigured as a part of the primary PUCCH group.An eNB may transmit one or more RRC messages to a UE for reconfigurationof PUCCH groups and cells within a PUCCH group.

A UE may maintain the activation status of an SCell when reconfiguringan SCell from a primary PUCCH group to a secondary PUCCH group or from asecondary PUCCH group to a primary PUCCH group. Such mechanism may allowseamless operation of a secondary cell while being reconfigured from onePUCCH group to the other and enables an eNB to balance the load betweenPUCCH groups without the need for SCell deactivation or SCell RRCrelease.

In such reconfiguration the SCell may remain in the same timing advancegroup (TAG). If the SCell was in a primary TAG, the SCell may remain inthe same pTAG. If the SCell was in a secondary cell was in a secondaryTAG, the SCell may remain in the same sTAG. Changing the TAG of theSCell may require the UE to release the SCell and add the SCell as apart of the new TAG. Changing PUCCH group of the SCell may notnecessarily require deactivation or release of the SCell.

In an example embodiment, an SCell may be initially a part of theprimary PUCCH group. The UE may transmit CSI of the SCell on the PUCCHresources of the primacy cell. The UE may receive an RRC reconfigurationmessage modifying CSI transmission resources for the SCell to a PUCCHSCell. The UE may stop transmission of CSI on CSI resources on theprimary cell and start transmission of the CSI on CSI resources of thePUCCH SCell. The measurement resources of the SCell (CRS, or CSI RS) mayor may not change during the SCell reconfiguration. The measurementtransmission resource and parameters may be modified. During thisprocess, the UE may maintains uplink synchronization of the SCell. Theremay not be a timing change or jitter in the uplink transmissions for theSCell. The UE may not need to deactivate or release the SCell in orderto transmit on the updated PUCCH resources. It is assumed that the PUCCHSCell maintains its uplink synchronization when the UE modifies SCellCSI transmission resource configuration. In another example, one or moreconfiguration parameters of an SCell in a secondary PUCCH group may bemodified and the SCell may become a member of the primary PUCCH groupwithout being deactivated during PUCCH group modification process.

Releasing or deactivating the SCell when PUCCH group of the SCell andCSI transmission resources are modified may result in additional delayin SCell operations. The SCell may not be able to transmit and receivepackets when it is deactivated or released. In an example embodiment,the UE may apply the new CSI transmission parameters to CSI measurementand transmit CSI in the new resources. This processing period forapplying the new parameters may be in the range of a few subframes. TheUE may be able to transmit and receive packets during this period. Evenif the UE does not receive or transmit information during this period,this period of inactivity may be much shorter thandeactivation/activation period or cell-release/cell-add period. It maybe advantageous to maintain SCell activation status when PUCCH group ofan SCell is modified.

In an example embodiment, a wireless device may transmit channel stateinformation (CSI) fields of a secondary cell on a first cell. Thewireless device may receive, in subframe n, an RRC message comprisingone or more configuration parameters of the secondary cell. The one ormore configuration parameters may indicate CSI transmission resourcesfor the secondary cell. The CSI transmission resources may be on asecond cell different from the first cell. The wireless device may stop,in subframe n+p, transmission of CSI fields of the secondary cell on thefirst cell, wherein p is a number greater than one. The wireless devicemay start, in subframe n+k, transmitting CSI fields of the secondarycell on the second cell, wherein k is a number greater than or equal top. The secondary cell may maintain activation status after receiving themessage and at least until subframe n+k.

In an example embodiment of the invention, a wireless device may receivea first message comprising one or more first configuration parametersindicating first channel state information (CSI) transmission resourcesfor the secondary cell. The first CSI transmission resources may be on afirst cell in the plurality of cells. The wireless device may transmitCSI fields of the secondary cell on the first cell. The wireless devicemay receive, in subframe n, a second message indicating second CSItransmission resources for the secondary cell. The CSI transmissionresources may be on a second cell different from the first cell. Thewireless device may stop, in subframe n+p, transmission of CSI fields ofthe secondary cell on the first cell, wherein p is a number greater thanone. The wireless device may start, in subframe n+k, transmitting CSIfields of the secondary cell on the second cell, wherein k is a numbergreater than or equal to p. In an example embodiment k is a numbergreater than or equal to p+s, wherein s is greater than or equal to1.The secondary cell maintains activation status after receiving thesecond message and at least until subframe n+k. In an exampleembodiment, the secondary cell may be the first cell. In an exampleembodiment, the secondary cell is the second cell. In an exampleembodiment, the secondary cell is different from the first cell and thesecond cell.

When a PUCCH SCell is released for reconfiguration or other purposes,the eNB may release other cell(s) in the corresponding secondary PUCCHgroup. When PUCCH SCell is released (and no other PUCCH SCell isconfigured), other cells in the corresponding PUCCH group may not haveaccess to PUCCH resources. The eNB may release other SCells in the PUCCHgroup when the corresponding PUCCH SCell is released. In an exampleembodiment, UE may autonomously release other SCells in the PUCCH groupwhen the corresponding PUCCH SCell is released. For example, a UE mayrelease other SCells in the PUCCH group when the corresponding PUCCHSCell is released without the eNB explicitly indicating release of theother SCells in an RRC message. When the PUCCH SCell is released the UEmay not be able to transmit CSI and ACK/NACK information in the uplinkand may not be able to receive any downlink transport blocks from theeNB. In such a scenario, the release of other cells in the UE may reducebattery power consumption in a UE.

In an example embodiment, a wireless device receives at least one RRCmessage comprising configuration parameters of a plurality of cells. Theplurality of cells may be grouped into a plurality of physical uplinkcontrol channel (PUCCH) groups comprising: a primary PUCCH groupcomprising a primary cell with a primary PUCCH transmitted to the basestation; and a secondary PUCCH group comprising a first plurality ofsecondary cells in the plurality of cells. The first plurality ofsecondary cells comprises a PUCCH secondary cell with a secondary PUCCHtransmitted to the base station. The wireless device may receive asecond message comprising one or more parameters indicating a release ofthe PUCCH secondary cell. The wireless device may release each of thefirst plurality of secondary cells in the secondary PUCCH group.

When PUCCH SCell is reconfigured and no longer belongs to the secondaryPUCCH group and/or when PUCCH SCell is reconfigured and no longerincludes a PUCCH (an no other SCell in the secondary PUCCH groupincludes PUCCH), the eNB may release other cell(s) in that secondaryPUCCH group. When PUCCH SCell is reconfigured and does not include PUCCH(and no other PUCCH SCell is configured) or when PUCCH SCell isreconfigured and does not belong to the PUCCH group, other cells in thecorresponding PUCCH group may not have access to PUCCH resources. TheeNB may release other SCells in the PUCCH group when the correspondingPUCCH is not available. In an example embodiment, UE may autonomouslyrelease other SCells in the PUCCH group when the corresponding PUCCH isnot available. For example, UE may release other SCells in the PUCCHgroup when the corresponding PUCCH is not available without eNBexplicitly indicating release of the other SCells in an RRC message.When the PUCCH is not available (e.g. due to RRC reconfiguration), theUE may not be able to transmit CSI and ACK/NACK information in theuplink and may not be able to receive any downlink transport blocks fromthe eNB. In such a scenario, the release of other cells in the UE mayreduce battery power consumption in the UE.

In an example embodiment, a wireless device may receive at least one RRCmessage comprising configuration parameters of a plurality of cells. Theplurality of cells may be grouped into a plurality of physical uplinkcontrol channel (PUCCH) groups comprising: a primary PUCCH groupcomprising a primary cell with a primary PUCCH transmitted to the basestation; and a secondary PUCCH group comprising a first plurality ofsecondary cells in the plurality of cells. The first plurality ofsecondary cells comprises a PUCCH secondary cell with a secondary PUCCHtransmitted to the base station. The wireless device may receive asecond message comprising one or more parameters indicating at least oneof the following: a release of the PUCCH secondary cell; areconfiguration of the PUCCH secondary cell to another PUCCH group whenno other PUCCH SCell is configured for the PUCCH group; and/orreconfiguration of PUCCH secondary cell to a cell without PUCCH when noother PUCCH SCell is configured for the PUCCH group. The wireless devicemay release each of the first plurality of secondary cells in thesecondary PUCCH group.

The PUCCH group release procedure may be used to release a secondaryPUCCH group. An eNB may release SCell(s) in a PUCCH group when PUCCHgroup is released. In an example embodiment, SCells in a PUCCH group maybe automatically and/or autonomously released when the PUCCH group isreleased. SCells may be reconfigured as a part of the primary PUCCHgroup by eNB. This process may reduce the signaling needs required forreleases each individual SCell in a PUCCH group. The eNB and the UE mayrelease SCells in a PUCCH group when an RRC message indicates therelease of the PUCCH group. In such a scenario, the release of othercells in the UE may reduce battery power consumption in a UE.

Primary PUCCH group may not be released, since PCell may include PUCCHresources and at least transmit PCell CSI and HARQ feedback on PUCCHPCell. In an example embodiment, if the primary PUCCH group is releasedthe connection of a UE with the base station may be released.

In an example embodiment of the invention, a wireless device may receiveat least one message comprising configuration parameters of a pluralityof cells. The plurality of cells may be grouped into a plurality ofphysical uplink control channel (PUCCH) groups comprising: a primaryPUCCH group comprising a primary cell with a primary PUCCH transmittedto the base station; and a secondary PUCCH group comprising a firstplurality of secondary cells in the plurality of cells. The firstplurality of secondary cells may comprise a PUCCH secondary cell with asecondary PUCCH transmitted to the base station. The wireless device mayreceive a second message comprising one or more parameters indicating arelease of the secondary PUCCH group. The wireless device may releaseeach of the first plurality of secondary cells in the secondary PUCCHgroup.

In Release-12, PCell supports RLM for CA, and PCell and PSCell supportRLM for DC. PUCCH SCell may or may not support RLM depending on eNB andUE implementations. In an example embodiment, a PUCCH SCell may notsupport RLM. A PUCCH SCell radio link issues may be detected by the eNBbased on CQI/SRS reporting and/or RRM measurement reports for the PUCCHSCell. E-UTRAN (e.g. eNB) may handle loss of SCell(s) e.g. using CQIreporting or regular RRM reporting.

When a PUCCH SCell link has issues e.g. loses downlink signals, observeshigh error rates and/or interference, it may not be possible to performdownlink transmissions on SCells of the corresponding PUCCH group due tomissing CSI/HARQ feedback channel. In an example embodiment, a UE and aneNB implementation may implement failure indication for an PUCCH SCell.For example, the UE may transmit a control message, for example afailure indication, to the eNB in case there is a RLF (or other failure)in the PUCCH SCell. Transmission of PUCCH SCell failure indication fromthe UE to the eNB may avoid or reduce unnecessary UL interference fromthe UE, and may reduce delays of reconfiguring or releasing cellconfigurations, for example reconfiguring or releasing cells in thePUCCH groups.

In an example embodiment, when a UE determines issues with a PUCCHSCell, the UE may avoid UL transmissions on the PUCCH SCell in order toreduce UL interference. The UE may stop UL transmissions on PUCCH SCellif the UE detects radio link issues with the PUCCH SCell. In an exampleembodiment, the PUCCH SCell and/or SCells in the PUCCH group may bedeactivated when there are issues with the PUCCH SCell.

In an example embodiment, an eNB may detect issues with PUCCH SCellradio link. The eNB may detect radio link issues with PUCCH SCell linkfor example when eNB loses PUCCH SCell signals, observes high errorrates and/or interference on PUCCH SCell, observes CQI feedbackindicating poor signal quality on PUCCH SCell, or receives measurementreports indicating poor signal quality on PUCCH SCell. Poor andacceptable signal quality levels depends on radio link monitoringcriteria. For example, if the received signal level is below certainthreshold (e.g. −110 dBm), the signal may be considered having poorquality. In an example, when the eNB or UE loses synchronization withthe received signal for a sustained period of time, the signal may beconsidered unacceptable. In an example, if the signal power or SINR isabove certain threshold (e.g. −100 dB) the signal may be consideredacceptable. Other metric and more complex algorithms may be employed todetermine is the signal quality is acceptable or not acceptable.

In an example, the eNB may detect radio link issues when a UE indicatesradio link issues with PUCCH SCell for example by transmitting a linkfailure message to the eNB. A UE may transmit failure indication forexample when the UE cannot measure pathloss reference of the downlinkcarrier of an PUCCH SCell.

In an example embodiment, the eNB may deactivate serving cells in thecorresponding PUCCH group when the eNB detects radio link issues withthe PUCCH SCell in the PUCCH group. The eNB may deactivate the cells inPUCCH group by transmitting a MAC deactivation MAC CE to the UE. Thedisclosed embodiment may reduce interference in the network. A PUCCHSCell carries CSI and HARQ feedback information for downlink carriers ofcells in the PUCCH group. When PUCCH SCell is not available, the UE maynot be able to receive downlink information.

In an example embodiment, the eNB may release serving cells in thecorresponding PUCCH group when the eNB detects radio link issues withthe PUCCH SCell in the PUCCH group. The eNB may release the cells inPUCCH group by transmitting at least one RRC message (e.g. an RRCconnection reconfiguration message) to the UE releasing the cells inPUCCH group. In an example, the eNB may reconfigure/add some or all ofthose cells by the same at least one RRC message. In an example, the eNBmay reconfigure/add some or all of those cells by transmitting one ormore RRC messages. The disclosed embodiment may reduce interference inthe network. PUCCH SCell carries CSI and HARQ feedback information fordownlink carriers of cells in the PUCCH group. When PUCCH SCell is notavailable, the UE may not be able to receive downlink information. Whencells are released the UE may not transmit and receive signals on thereleased cells. The eNB may reconfigure the cells and/or PUCCH groups.An eNB may configure PUCCH on another cell with an acceptable radio linkquality.

In an example embodiment, when the UE detects radio link issues with thePUCCH SCell, the UE may transmit a failure indication to the eNB. In anexample embodiment, when the UE detects radio link issues with the PUCCHSCell, the UE may autonomously deactivate the PUCCH SCell.

In an example embodiment, when the UE detects radio link issues with thePUCCH SCell, the UE may not transmit signals on PUCCH SCell controlinformation in the uplink PUCCH for the SCells in the correspondingPUCCH group. Other activated SCell(s) in a PUCCH group corresponding tothe PUCCH SCell (with radio link issue) may not transmit uplinkCQI/PMI/RI/PTI/HARQ-feedback reporting on PUCCH of the the PUCCH SCell.In an example embodiment, in such a scenario, the UE may be able toreceive uplink grants and transmit uplink packets to the eNB, but maystop receiving DL-SCH packets. The UE may be able to receive downlinkHARQ and downlink physical control channels (e.g. PBCCH, PCFICH, PDCCH,and/or ePDCCH) and/or broadcast channel on the SCell. The UE may not beable to provide downlink feedback information (e.g.CQI/PMI/RI/PTI/HARQ-feedback) on the PUCCH SCell (with radio linkissue).

In an example embodiment, when UE detects radio link issues with PUCCHSCell, UE may clear any configured downlink assignments received for theSCells in the corresponding PUCCH group. UE may clear any HARQ processesfor downlink packets in the corresponding PUCCH group.

FIG. 14 is an example flow diagram as per an aspect of an embodiment ofthe present invention. A wireless device receives at least one messagefrom a base station at 1410. The message may comprise one or moreparameters for adding and/or modifying a secondary cell in a pluralityof cells. According to an embodiment, the one or more parameters maycomprise: a plurality of common parameters, and/or a plurality ofdedicated parameters. According to an embodiment, the message maycomprise configuration parameters for the plurality of cells. Theplurality of cells may be grouped into a plurality of PUCCH groups. Theplurality of PUCCH groups may comprise: a primary PUCCH group, and/or asecondary PUCCH group. The primary PUCCH group may comprise a primarycell with a primary PUCCH transmitted to the base station. The secondaryPUCCH group may comprise the PUCCH secondary cell with the secondaryPUCCH transmitted to the base station.

The secondary cell may be added and/or modified employing the message at1420. According to an embodiment, the secondary cell may be deactivatedwhen it is added.

The message may be configurable to add the secondary cell as a physicaluplink control channel (PUCCH) secondary cell with a PUCCH. The messagemay also be unconfigurable to cause modification of the secondary cellto the PUCCH secondary cell before first releasing the secondary cellwhen the secondary cell is already configured.

Channel state information of the secondary cell may be transmitted tothe base station at 1430. According to an embodiment, the channel stateinformation may comprise a precoding matrix indicator, a rank indicator,and/or a channel quality indicator.

According to an embodiment, a second message configured to cause therelease of the secondary cell in the wireless device may be received.The secondary cell may be the PUCCH secondary cell. A third messageconfigured to cause the addition of the secondary cell with no PUCCHresources may also be received. According to an embodiment, a secondmessage configured to cause the release of the secondary cell in thewireless device may be received by the wireless device. The secondarycell may have no PUCCH resources. A third message configured to causethe addition of the secondary cell with PUCCH resources may be received.

FIG. 15 is an example flow diagram as per an aspect of an embodiment ofthe present invention. A base station transmits at least one message toa wireless device at 1510. The message may comprise a message comprisingone or more parameters for adding and/or modifying a secondary cell in aplurality of cells. According to an embodiment, the one or moreparameters may comprise: a plurality of common parameters, and/or aplurality of dedicated parameters. According to an embodiment, themessage may comprise configuration parameters for the plurality ofcells. The plurality of cells may be grouped into a plurality of PUCCHgroups. The plurality of PUCCH groups may comprise: a primary PUCCHgroup, and/or a secondary PUCCH group. The primary PUCCH group maycomprise a primary cell with a primary PUCCH transmitted to the basestation. The secondary PUCCH group may comprise the PUCCH secondary cellwith the secondary PUCCH transmitted to the base station.

At 1520, the secondary cell employing the message may be added and/ormodified. The message may be configurable to add the secondary cell as aphysical uplink control channel (PUCCH) secondary cell with a PUCCH. Themessage may be unconfigurable to cause modification of the secondarycell to the PUCCH secondary cell before first releasing the secondarycell when the secondary cell is already configured. According to anembodiment, the secondary cell may be deactivated when it is added.

Channel state information of the secondary cell may be received from thewireless device at 1530. According to an embodiment, the channel stateinformation may comprise a precoding matrix indicator, a rank indicator,and/or a channel quality indicator.

According to an embodiment, a second message configured to cause therelease of the secondary cell in the wireless device may be transmitted.The secondary cell may be the PUCCH secondary cell. A third messageconfigured to cause the addition of the secondary cell with no PUCCHresources may be transmitted. According to an embodiment, a secondmessage configured to cause the release of the secondary cell in thewireless device may be transmitted. The secondary cell may have no PUCCHresources. A third message configured to cause the addition of thesecondary cell with PUCCH resources may be transmitted.

FIG. 16 is an example flow diagram as per an aspect of an embodiment ofthe present invention. A base station transmits at least one message toa wireless device at 1610. The message may comprise at least one firstmessage. The at least one first message may comprise configurationparameters of a plurality of cells. The plurality of cells may begrouped into a plurality of physical uplink control channel (PUCCH)groups. The PUCCH) cell groups may comprise a primary PUCCH group and/ora secondary PUCCH group. The primary PUCCH group may comprise a primarycell with a primary PUCCH received by the base station. The secondaryPUCCH group may comprise a PUCCH secondary cell with a secondary PUCCHreceived by the base station. According to an embodiment, theconfiguration parameters may comprise a plurality of common parameters,and/or a plurality of dedicated parameters.

A radio link issue with the PUCCH secondary cell may be detected at 1620while one or more other cells in the secondary PUCCH group haveacceptable radio link quality. At least one second message configured torelease at least one of the one or more other cells in the secondaryPUCCH group may be transmitted at 1630. According to an embodiment, theat least one second message may be further configured to release thePUCCH secondary cell. According to an embodiment, the transmission of atleast one second message may comprise at least one cell index of the atleast one of the one or more other cells.

According to an embodiment, the detection of the radio link issue mayemploy detecting a loss of PUCCH secondary cell signals. the detectionof the radio link issue may employ detecting a loss of synchronizationwith the PUCCH secondary cell signals. The detection of the radio linkissue may employ measuring high error rates on the PUCCH secondary cell.The radio link issue may be detected employing measuring highinterference on the PUCCH secondary cell. The radio link issue may bedetected employing the reception of a channel quality indicator (CQI)feedback indicating poor signal quality on the PUCCH secondary cell. Theradio link issue may be detected employing the reception of measurementreports indicating poor signal quality on the PUCCH secondary cell.According to an embodiment, the detection of the radio link issue mayoccur when the base station receives a third message from the wirelessdevice.

FIG. 17 is an example flow diagram as per an aspect of an embodiment ofthe present invention. A base station transmits at least one message toa wireless device at 1710. The at least one first message may compriseconfiguration parameters of a plurality of cells. The plurality of cellsmay be grouped into a plurality of physical uplink control channel(PUCCH) groups. The PUCCH groups may comprise a primary PUCCH group,and/or a secondary PUCCH group. The primary PUCCH group may comprise aprimary cell with a primary PUCCH received by the base station. Thesecondary PUCCH group may comprise a PUCCH secondary cell with asecondary PUCCH received by the base station. According to anembodiment, the configuration parameters may comprise a plurality ofcommon parameters. The configuration parameters may comprise a pluralityof dedicated parameters.

A radio link issue with the PUCCH secondary cell may be detected whileone or more other cells in the secondary PUCCH group have acceptableradio link quality at 1720. According to an embodiment, the detection ofthe radio link issue may employ detecting a loss of PUCCH secondary cellsignals. The detection of the radio link issue may employ detecting aloss of synchronization with the PUCCH secondary cell signals. Thedetection of the radio link issue may employ measuring high error rateson the PUCCH secondary cell. According to an embodiment, the detectionof the radio link issue may employ measuring high interference on thePUCCH secondary cell. The detection of the radio link issue may employreceiving a channel quality indicator (CQI) feedback indicating poorsignal quality on the PUCCH secondary cell. The detection of the radiolink issue may employ receiving measurement reports indicating poorsignal quality on the PUCCH secondary cell. According to an embodiment,the detection of the radio link issue may occur when the base stationreceives a third message from the wireless device.

At least one second media access control (MAC) command configured todeactivate at least one of the one or more other cells in the secondaryPUCCH group may be transmitted at 1730. According to an embodiment, atleast one second MAC command may be further configured to deactivate thePUCCH secondary cell. According to an embodiment, the transmission ofthe at least one second MAC command may comprise a bitmap indicatingdeactivation of the at least one of the one or more other cells.

FIG. 18 is an example flow diagram as per an aspect of an embodiment ofthe present invention. A base station transmits at least one message toa wireless device at 1810. The at least one first message may compriseconfiguration parameters of a plurality of cells. The plurality of cellsmay be grouped into a plurality of physical uplink control channel(PUCCH) groups. The PUCCH groups may comprise a primary PUCCH group,and/or a secondary PUCCH group. The primary PUCCH group may comprise aprimary cell with a primary PUCCH received by the base station. Thesecondary PUCCH group may comprise a PUCCH secondary cell with asecondary PUCCH received by the base station. According to anembodiment, the configuration parameters may comprise a plurality ofcommon parameters. The configuration parameters may comprise a pluralityof dedicated parameters. A radio link issue with the PUCCH secondarycell may be detected at 1820 while one or more other cells in thesecondary PUCCH group has acceptable radio link quality. At least onesecond RRC message configured to release the PUCCH secondary cell may betransmitted at 1830. At least one second MAC command configured todeactivate at least one of the one or more other cells in the secondaryPUCCH group may be transmitted at 1840.

FIG. 19 is an example flow diagram as per an aspect of an embodiment ofthe present invention. A wireless device receives at least one messagefrom a base station at 1910. The at least one first message may compriseconfiguration parameters of a plurality of cells. The plurality of cellsmay be grouped into a plurality of physical uplink control channel(PUCCH) groups. The PUCCH groups may comprise a primary PUCCH group,and/or a secondary PUCCH group. The primary PUCCH group may comprise aprimary cell with a primary PUCCH transmitted to the base station. Thesecondary PUCCH group may comprise a PUCCH secondary cell with asecondary PUCCH transmitted by the base station. According to anembodiment, the configuration parameters may comprise a plurality ofcommon parameters. The configuration parameters may comprise a pluralityof dedicated parameters.

A second message comprising one or more parameters indicating a releaseof the PUCCH secondary cell may be received at 1920. Each of the firstplurality of secondary cells in the secondary PUCCH group may bereleased at 1930.

According to an embodiment, the base station may detect a radio linkissue with the PUCCH secondary cell employing the detection of a loss ofPUCCH secondary cell signals. The base station may also detect a radiolink issue with the PUCCH secondary cell employing detecting a loss ofsynchronization with the PUCCH secondary cell signals. The base stationmay also detect a radio link issue with the PUCCH secondary cellemploying measuring high error rates on the PUCCH secondary cell.According to an embodiment, the base station may detect a radio linkissue with the PUCCH secondary cell employing measuring highinterference on the PUCCH secondary cell. The base station may alsodetect a radio link issue with the PUCCH secondary cell employingreceiving a channel quality indicator (CQI) feedback indicating poorsignal quality on the PUCCH secondary cell. The base station may alsodetect a radio link issue with the PUCCH secondary cell employingreceiving measurement reports indicating poor signal quality on thePUCCH secondary cell.

According to an embodiment, the wireless device may further comprisetransmitting a second message indicating a radio link issue with thePUCCH secondary cell. According to an embodiment, at least one messagemay comprise a cell index of the PUCCH secondary cell. According to anembodiment, channel state information may be transmitted on thesecondary PUCCH.

FIG. 20 is an example flow diagram as per an aspect of an embodiment ofthe present invention. A wireless device receives at least one messagefrom a base station at 2010. The at least one first message may compriseconfiguration parameters of a plurality of cells. The plurality of cellsmay be grouped into a plurality of physical uplink control channel(PUCCH) groups. The PUCCH groups may comprise a primary PUCCH group,and/or a secondary PUCCH group. The primary PUCCH group may comprise aprimary cell with a primary PUCCH transmitted to the base station. Thesecondary PUCCH group may comprise a PUCCH secondary cell with asecondary PUCCH transmitted by the base station. According to anembodiment, the configuration parameters may comprise a plurality ofcommon parameters. The configuration parameters may comprise a pluralityof dedicated parameters.

A second message comprising one or more parameters indicating a releaseof the secondary PUCCH group may be received at 2020. Each of the firstplurality of secondary cells in the secondary PUCCH group may bereleased at 2030.

According to an embodiment, the base station may detect a radio linkissue with the PUCCH secondary cell employing detecting a loss of PUCCHsecondary cell signals. The base station may also detect a radio linkissue with the PUCCH secondary cell employing detecting a loss ofsynchronization with the PUCCH secondary cell signals. The base stationmay also detect a radio link issue with the PUCCH secondary cellemploying measuring high error rates on the PUCCH secondary cell.

According to an embodiment, a second message indicating a radio linkissue with the PUCCH secondary cell may be transmitted. According to anembodiment, at least one message may comprise a cell index of thesecondary PUCCH group. According to an embodiment, channel stateinformation may be transmitted on the secondary PUCCH.

FIG. 21 is an example flow diagram as per an aspect of an embodiment ofthe present invention. A wireless device receives at least one messagefrom a base station at 2110. The at least one first message may comprisea plurality of parameters of a plurality of cells. The plurality ofcells may be grouped into a plurality of physical uplink control channel(PUCCH) groups. The PUCCH groups may comprise a primary PUCCH group,and/or a secondary PUCCH group. The primary PUCCH group may comprise aprimary cell with a primary PUCCH. The secondary PUCCH group maycomprise a PUCCH secondary cell with a secondary PUCCH. According to anembodiment, the configuration parameters may comprise a plurality ofcommon parameters. The plurality of parameters may compriseconfiguration parameters for a secondary cell in the plurality of cells.The secondary cell may be mapped to the secondary PUCCH group if a firstparameter is present in the configuration parameters. Otherwise, thesecondary cell may be mapped to the primary PUCCH group. The secondarycell may be considered to be the PUCCH secondary cell if PUCCHparameters are present in the configuration parameters.

According to an embodiment, the first parameter may be a dedicatedparameter. According to an embodiment, the PUCCH parameters may comprisea plurality of PUCCH common parameters. The PUCCH parameters may alsocomprise a plurality of PUCCH dedicated parameters. According to anembodiment, the secondary cell may not be considered to be the PUCCHsecondary cell if PUCCH parameters are not present in the configurationparameters. According to an embodiment, the PUCCH parameters maycomprise at least one parameter related to a hybrid automatic repeatrequest (HARQ).

Channel state information of one or more secondary cells on the PUCCHsecondary cell may be transmitted at 2120. According to an embodiment,channel state information may be transmitted on the secondary PUCCH.According to an embodiment, channel state information for the secondarycell on the PUCCH secondary cell may be transmitted if the firstparameter is present in the configuration parameters for the secondarycell.

FIG. 22 is an example flow diagram as per an aspect of an embodiment ofthe present invention. A base station may transmit at least one messageto a wireless device at 2210. The at least one first message maycomprise a plurality of parameters of a plurality of cells. Theplurality of cells may be grouped into a plurality of physical uplinkcontrol channel (PUCCH) groups. The PUCCH groups may comprise a primaryPUCCH group, and/or a secondary PUCCH group. The primary PUCCH group maycomprise a primary cell with a primary PUCCH. The secondary PUCCH groupmay comprise a PUCCH secondary cell with a secondary PUCCH. According toan embodiment, the configuration parameters may comprise a plurality ofcommon parameters. The plurality of parameters may compriseconfiguration parameters for a secondary cell in the plurality of cells.The secondary cell may be mapped to the secondary PUCCH group if a firstparameter is present in the configuration parameters. Otherwise, thesecondary cell may be mapped to the primary PUCCH group. The secondarycell may be considered to be the PUCCH secondary cell if PUCCHparameters are present in the configuration parameters.

According to an embodiment, the first parameter may be a dedicatedparameter. According to an embodiment, the PUCCH parameters may comprisea plurality of PUCCH common parameters. The PUCCH parameters may alsocomprise a plurality of PUCCH dedicated parameters. According to anembodiment, the secondary cell may not be considered to be the PUCCHsecondary cell if PUCCH parameters are not present in the configurationparameters. According to an embodiment, the PUCCH parameters maycomprise at least one parameter related to a hybrid automatic repeatrequest (HARQ).

Channel state information of one or more secondary cells on the PUCCHsecondary cell may be received at 2220. According to an embodiment,channel state information for the secondary cell on the PUCCH secondarycell may be received if the first parameter is present in theconfiguration parameters for the secondary cell.

FIG. 23 is an example flow diagram as per an aspect of an embodiment ofthe present invention. A wireless device transmits channel stateinformation (CSI) fields of a secondary cell on a first cell in aplurality of cells at 2310. At 2320, a message may be received insubframe n. The message may comprise one or more configurationparameters indicating that CSI transmission resources for the secondarycell may be on a second cell. The second cell may be different from thefirst cell. At 2330, in subframe n+p, transmission of CSI fields of thesecondary cell on the first cell may be stopped. p may be a numbergreater than one. At 2340, in subframe n+k, transmission of CSI fieldsof the secondary cell on the second cell may be started. k may be anumber greater than p.

According to an embodiment, the wireless device may maintain anactivation status for the secondary cell after receiving the message anduntil subframe n+k. According to an embodiment, the message may not beconfigured to cause a change in an activation status of the secondarycell. According to an embodiment, a second messages may be received. Thesecond message may comprise one or more second configuration parametersindicating second CSI transmission resources for the secondary cell. Thesecond CSI transmission resources may be on the first cell.

According to an embodiment, the plurality of cells may be grouped into aplurality of physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) groups. The PUCCHgroups may comprise a primary PUCCH group and/or a secondary PUCCHgroup. The primary PUCCH group may comprising the first cell with aprimary PUCCH transmitted to the base station. The secondary PUCCH groupmay comprise the second cell with a secondary PUCCH transmitted to thebase station.

According to an embodiment, the first cell may be a primary cell and thesecond cell may be a PUCCH secondary cell. According to an embodiment,the first cell may be a PUCCH secondary cell and the second cell may bea primary cell. According to an embodiment, the second cell may beinitially deactivated when configured. According to an embodiment, atleast one transport block may be transmitted and/or received in asubframe between subframe n and subframe n+k. According to anembodiment, a control channel in subframes from subframe n to subframen+k may be monitored.

FIG. 24 is an example flow diagram as per an aspect of an embodiment ofthe present invention. A base station may receive, from a wirelessdevice, channel state information (CSI) fields of a secondary cell on afirst cell in a plurality of cells at 2410. At 2420, a message may betranmitted in subframe n. The message may comprise one or moreconfiguration parameters indicating that CSI transmission resources forthe secondary cell may be on a second cell. The second cell may bedifferent from the first cell. At 2430, in subframe n+p, reception ofCSI fields of the secondary cell on the first cell may be stopped. p maybe a number greater than one. At 2440, in subframe n+k, reception of CSIfields of the secondary cell on the second cell may be started. k may bea number greater than p.

According to an embodiment, the base station may maintain an activationstatus for the secondary cell in the wireless device after receiving themessage and until subframe n+k. According to an embodiment, the messagemay not be configured to cause a change in an activation status of thesecondary cell. According to an embodiment, a second messages may betransmitted. The second message may comprise one or more secondconfiguration parameters indicating second CSI transmission resourcesfor the secondary cell. The second CSI transmission resources may be onthe first cell.

According to an embodiment, the plurality of cells may be grouped into aplurality of physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) groups. The PUCCHgroups may comprise a primary PUCCH group and/or a secondary PUCCHgroup. The primary PUCCH group may comprising the first cell with aprimary PUCCH received by the base station. The secondary PUCCH groupmay comprise the second cell with a secondary PUCCH received by the basestation.

According to an embodiment, the first cell may be a primary cell and thesecond cell may be a PUCCH secondary cell. According to an embodiment,the first cell may be a PUCCH secondary cell and the second cell may bea primary cell. According to an embodiment, the second cell may beinitially deactivated when configured. According to an embodiment, atleast one transport block may be transmitted and/or received in asubframe between subframe n and subframe n+k. According to anembodiment, a control channel in subframes from subframe n to subframen+k may be monitored.

A Primary PUCCH group may comprise a group of serving cells includingPCell whose PUCCH signalling may be associated with the PUCCH on PCell.A PUCCH group may comprise either a primary PUCCH group and/or asecondary PUCCH group. A PUCCH SCell may comprise a Secondary Cellconfigured with PUCCH. A Secondary PUCCH group may comprise a group ofSCells whose PUCCH signalling may be associated with the PUCCH on thePUCCH SCell. A Timing Advance Group may comprise a group of servingcells that configured by an RRC and/or that, for the cells with an ULconfigured, may use the same timing reference cell and the same TimingAdvance value. A Primary Timing Advance Group may comprise a TimingAdvance Group containing the PCell. A Secondary Timing Advance Group maycomprise a Timing Advance Group not containing the PCell.

With respect to a Physical uplink control channel, a PUCCH may betransmitted on a PCell, a PUCCH SCell (if such is configured in CA)and/or on PSCell (in DC).

With respect to Carrier Aggregation. The configured set of serving cellsfor a UE may comprise a PCell and one or more SCells: If DC is notconfigured, one additional PUCCH can be configured on an SCell, thePUCCH SCell; when a PUCCH SCell is configured, RRC may configure themapping of each serving cell to a Primary PUCCH group and/or a SecondaryPUCCH group, (i.e., for each SCell whether the PCell or the PUCCH SCellis used for the transmission of ACK/NAKs and CSI reports).

With respect to a PUCCH SCell configuration, there may be an agreementto use release/add and not introduce modification(s). Configuration of aPUCCHConfigCommonSCell and/or a PUCCHConfigDedicatedSCell may beprovided only for a PUCCH SCell

An example of secondary cell parameters may comprise:SCellToAddMod-r10::=SEQUENCE {sCellIndex-r10 sCellIndex-r10,cellIdentification-r10 SEQUENCE {physCellId-r10 PhysCellId,dl-CarrierFreq-r10 ARFCN-ValueEUTRA} OPTIONAL, --Cond SCellAddradioResourceConfigCommonSCell-r10 RadioResourceConfigCommonSCell-r10OPTIONAL, --Cond SCellAdd radioResourceConfigDedicatedSCell-r10RadioResourceConfigDedicatedSCell-r10 OPTIONAL, --Cond SCellAdd2.

With respect to a RadioResourceConfigCommon, the IERadioResourceConfigCommonSIB and IE RadioResourceConfigCommon may beused to specify common radio resource configurations in the systeminformation and in the mobility control information, respectively,(e.g., the random access parameters and the static physical layerparameters).

An example of PUCCH parameters may comprise:RadioResourceConfigCommonSCell-r10::=SEQUENCE {[[pucch-ConfigCommon-r13PUCCH-ConfigCommon OPTIONAL, --Cond ULuplinkPowerControlCommonSCell-v13xx UplinkPowerControlCommonPSCell-r12OPTIONAL--Cond UL.

With respect to a Conditional presence, the SCellAdd field may bepresent upon SCell addition; otherwise it may not be present. An IEPhysicalConfigDedicated may be used to specify a UE specific physicalchannel configuration. For example, PhysicalConfigDedicated informationelement may include:

-   PhysicalConfigDedicatedSCell

pucch-ConfigDedicatedExt1, pucch-ConfigDedicatedExt2,pucch-ConfigDedicatedExt3, pucch-ConfigDedicatedExt, pucch-Cell. APUCCH-SCell field may be optionally present for a PUCCH SCell. Otherwiseit may not be present.

In this specification, “a” and “an” and similar phrases are to beinterpreted as “at least one” and “one or more.” In this specification,the term “may” is to be interpreted as “may, for example.” In otherwords, the term “may” is indicative that the phrase following the term“may” is an example of one of a multitude of suitable possibilities thatmay, or may not, be employed to one or more of the various embodiments.If A and B are sets and every element of A is also an element of B, A iscalled a subset of B. In this specification, only non-empty sets andsubsets are considered. For example, possible subsets of B={cell1,cell2} are: {cell1}, {cell2}, and {cell1, cell2}.

In this specification, parameters (Information elements: IEs) maycomprise one or more objects, and each of those objects may comprise oneor more other objects. For example, if parameter (IE) N comprisesparameter (IE) M, and parameter (IE) M comprises parameter (IE) K, andparameter (IE) K comprises parameter (information element) J, then, forexample, N comprises K, and N comprises J. In an example embodiment,when one or more messages comprise a plurality of parameters, it impliesthat a parameter in the plurality of parameters is in at least one ofthe one or more messages, but does not have to be in each of the one ormore messages.

Many of the elements described in the disclosed embodiments may beimplemented as modules. A module is defined here as an isolatableelement that performs a defined function and has a defined interface toother elements. The modules described in this disclosure may beimplemented in hardware, software in combination with hardware,firmware, wetware (i.e hardware with a biological element) or acombination thereof, all of which are behaviorally equivalent. Forexample, modules may be implemented as a software routine written in acomputer language configured to be executed by a hardware machine (suchas C, C++, Fortran, Java, Basic, Matlab or the like) or amodeling/simulation program such as Simulink, Stateflow, GNU Octave, orLabVIEWMathScript. Additionally, it may be possible to implement modulesusing physical hardware that incorporates discrete or programmableanalog, digital and/or quantum hardware. Examples of programmablehardware comprise: computers, microcontrollers, microprocessors,application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs); field programmablegate arrays (FPGAs); and complex programmable logic devices (CPLDs).Computers, microcontrollers and microprocessors are programmed usinglanguages such as assembly, C, C++ or the like. FPGAs, ASICs and CPLDsare often programmed using hardware description languages (HDL) such asVHSIC hardware description language (VHDL) or Verilog that configureconnections between internal hardware modules with lesser functionalityon a programmable device. Finally, it needs to be emphasized that theabove mentioned technologies are often used in combination to achievethe result of a functional module.

The disclosure of this patent document incorporates material which issubject to copyright protection. The copyright owner has no objection tothe facsimile reproduction by anyone of the patent document or thepatent disclosure, as it appears in the Patent and Trademark Officepatent file or records, for the limited purposes required by law, butotherwise reserves all copyright rights whatsoever.

While various embodiments have been described above, it should beunderstood that they have been presented by way of example, and notlimitation. It will be apparent to persons skilled in the relevantart(s) that various changes in form and detail can be made thereinwithout departing from the spirit and scope. In fact, after reading theabove description, it will be apparent to one skilled in the relevantart(s) how to implement alternative embodiments. Thus, the presentembodiments should not be limited by any of the above describedexemplary embodiments. In particular, it should be noted that, forexample purposes, the above explanation has focused on the example(s)using FDD communication systems. However, one skilled in the art willrecognize that embodiments of the invention may also be implemented in asystem comprising one or more TDD cells (e.g. frame structure 2 and/orframe structure 3-licensed assisted access). The disclosed methods andsystems may be implemented in wireless or wireline systems. The featuresof various embodiments presented in this invention may be combined. Oneor many features (method or system) of one embodiment may be implementedin other embodiments. Only a limited number of example combinations areshown to indicate to one skilled in the art the possibility of featuresthat may be combined in various embodiments to create enhancedtransmission and reception systems and methods.

In addition, it should be understood that any figures which highlightthe functionality and advantages, are presented for example purposesonly. The disclosed architecture is sufficiently flexible andconfigurable, such that it may be utilized in ways other than thatshown. For example, the actions listed in any flowchart may bere-ordered or only optionally used in some embodiments.

Further, the purpose of the Abstract of the Disclosure is to enable theU.S. Patent and Trademark Office and the public generally, andespecially the scientists, engineers and practitioners in the art whoare not familiar with patent or legal terms or phraseology, to determinequickly from a cursory inspection the nature and essence of thetechnical disclosure of the application. The Abstract of the Disclosureis not intended to be limiting as to the scope in any way.

Finally, it is the applicant's intent that only claims that include theexpress language “means for” or “step for” be interpreted under 35U.S.C. 112, paragraph 6. Claims that do not expressly include the phrase“means for” or “step for” are not to be interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method comprising: transmitting, by a basestation to a wireless device, at least one first message comprisingconfiguration parameters of a plurality of cells, wherein the pluralityof cells are grouped into a plurality of physical uplink control channel(PUCCH) groups comprising: a primary PUCCH group comprising a primarycell with a primary PUCCH received by the base station; and a secondaryPUCCH group comprising a PUCCH secondary cell with a secondary PUCCHreceived by the base station; detecting a radio link issue with thePUCCH secondary cell while one or more other cells in the secondaryPUCCH group have acceptable radio link quality; and transmitting atleast one second message configured to release at least one of the oneor more other cells in the secondary PUCCH group.
 2. The method of claim1, wherein the at least one second message is further configured torelease the PUCCH secondary cell.
 3. The method of claim 1, wherein theconfiguration parameters comprise: a plurality of common parameters; anda plurality of dedicated parameters.
 4. The method of claim 1, whereinthe detecting the radio link issue employs at least one of thefollowing: detecting a loss of PUCCH secondary cell signals; detecting aloss of synchronization with the PUCCH secondary cell signals; andmeasuring high error rates on the PUCCH secondary cell.
 5. The method ofclaim 1, wherein the detecting the radio link issue employs at least oneof the following: measuring high interference on the PUCCH secondarycell; receiving a channel quality indicator (CQI) feedback indicatingpoor signal quality on the PUCCH secondary cell; and receivingmeasurement reports indicating poor signal quality on the PUCCHsecondary cell.
 6. The method of claim 1, wherein the detecting theradio link issue occurs when the base station receives a third messagefrom the wireless device.
 7. The method of claim 1, wherein transmittingthe at least one second message comprises at least one cell index of theat least one of the one or more other cells.
 8. A method comprising:transmitting, by a base station to a wireless device, at least one firstmessage comprising configuration parameters of a plurality of cells,wherein the plurality of cells are grouped into a plurality of physicaluplink control channel (PUCCH) groups comprising: a primary PUCCH groupcomprising a primary cell with a primary PUCCH received by the basestation; and a secondary PUCCH group comprising a PUCCH secondary cellwith a secondary PUCCH received by the base station; detecting a radiolink issue with the PUCCH secondary cell while one or more other cellsin the secondary PUCCH group have acceptable radio link quality; andtransmitting at least one second media access control (MAC) commandconfigured to deactivate at least one of the one or more other cells inthe secondary PUCCH group.
 9. The method of claim 8, wherein at leastone second MAC command is further configured to deactivate the PUCCHsecondary cell.
 10. The method of claim 8, wherein the configurationparameters comprise: a plurality of common parameters; and a pluralityof dedicated parameters.
 11. The method of claim 8, wherein thedetecting the radio link issue employs at least one of the following:detecting a loss of PUCCH secondary cell signals; detecting a loss ofsynchronization with the PUCCH secondary cell signals; and measuringhigh error rates on the PUCCH secondary cell.
 12. The method of claim 8,wherein the detecting the radio link issue employs at least one of thefollowing: measuring high interference on the PUCCH secondary cell;receiving a channel quality indicator (CQI) feedback indicating poorsignal quality on the PUCCH secondary cell; and receiving measurementreports indicating poor signal quality on the PUCCH secondary cell. 13.The method of claim 8, wherein the detecting the radio link issue occurswhen the base station receives a third message from the wireless device.14. The method of claim 8, wherein transmitting the at least one secondMAC command comprises a bitmap indicating deactivation of the at leastone of the one or more other cells.
 15. A base station comprising: oneor more processors; and memory storing instructions that, when executed,cause the base station to: transmit, to a wireless device, at least onefirst message comprising configuration parameters of a plurality ofcells, wherein the plurality of cells are grouped into a plurality ofphysical uplink control channel (PUCCH) groups comprising: a primaryPUCCH group comprising a primary cell with a primary PUCCH received bythe base station; and a secondary PUCCH group comprising a PUCCHsecondary cell with a secondary PUCCH received by the base station;detect a radio link issue with the PUCCH secondary cell, while one ormore other cells in the secondary PUCCH group has acceptable radio linkquality; and transmit at least one second MAC command configured todeactivate at least one of the one or more other cells in the secondaryPUCCH group.
 16. The base station of claim 15, wherein at least onesecond MAC command is further configured to deactivate the PUCCHsecondary cell.
 17. The base station of claim 15, wherein theconfiguration parameters comprise: a plurality of common parameters; anda plurality of dedicated parameters.
 18. The base station of claim 15,wherein the instructions, when executed, further cause the base stationto: detect a loss of the PUCCH secondary cell signals; detect a loss ofsynchronization with the PUCCH secondary cell signals; or measure higherror rates on the PUCCH secondary cell.
 19. The base station of claim15, wherein instructions, when executed, further cause the base stationto: measure high interference on the PUCCH secondary cell; receive achannel quality indicator (CQI) feedback indicating poor signal qualityon the PUCCH secondary cell; or receiving measurement reports indicatingpoor signal quality on the PUCCH secondary cell.
 20. The base station ofclaim 15, wherein the base station detects the radio link issue when thebase station receives a third message from the wireless device.